


Falling in Love is Fine

by blackRat



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Awkward Kissing, F/F, Fluff, I stayed up till 4am to get two Ruby SRs just to make sure I could see her gay ass side story, Just a tiiiiny bit of angst because I couldn't resist, Ruby's really gay, sleepover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 11:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14354115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackRat/pseuds/blackRat
Summary: The RubyMari event in the Love Live game was really gay and I couldn't stop thinking about their sleepover, so I decided to write it out.orRuby and Mari are both gay disasters Mari just hides it better.





	Falling in Love is Fine

“Hello? Onee-chan? Yes, she took me to her room. I’m fine. Goodnight!”

 

Ruby hung up the phone, feeling a little less nervous than she had five minutes ago. Dia was such a worrywart. She had no idea what her sister thought Mari was going to ‘Do to her,’ other than maybe give her too much sugar before bed, but Ruby knew better than that! She was a good girl, she wouldn’t eat too much candy. Well, unless it was really good, but even then-

 

Her thought was interrupted by the sound of Mari’s bedroom door brushing against the plush carpet and a cheery, English “ **Honey, I’m home** !” that sent a fresh little wave of anxiety crashing over her.

 

Mari stepped through the door holding a bright pink teapot in one hand and two matching teacups in the other. She smiled as she saw Ruby sitting on her bed, as stiff and straight as if she was at the dinner table of some vicious king with a reputation for beheading little girls who didn’t have perfect manners. She set the cups and kettle down on the table by the window as she walked over to her bed, Ruby only getting stiffer the closer she came.

 

“Ru-by-chaaaan,” she singsonged, before letting herself giggle, grabbing Ruby’s hand and tugging her forward, nearly off the bed. “You’re too tense!” Ruby scrambled to right herself, not sure if she was blushing more from embarrassment or from the feeling of Mari’s hand in hers, especially since she seemed to have no intention of letting go.

 

As soon as Ruby got her balance back Mari pulled her forwards again, this time letting her get her feet under her. “Come on bella! The tea is ready! That strawberry tea that you brought smelled so  **yummy** that I just had to add a few real strawberries too!” She pulled the younger girl over towards the table, only dropping her hand to grab the teapot.

 

Something about Mari’s hand in hers had the confusing dual effect of making Ruby feel simultaneously completely safe and completely out of her element. But, she was brave, and she’d agreed to come to this ‘super special fun slumber party’ so she was gonna do her rubesty not to let her dumb nerves get in the way of them having a good time. 

 

With a new burning resolution in her heart, she was able to summon the strength from deep within her to sit down in the seat next to the one Mari had claimed, rather than across from it. Risky? Of course. Life threatening? Maybe. But that was just the type of girl Ruby Kurosawa was. 

 

Mari glanced up from pouring their tea to flash her a happy smile, almost like she knew exactly what choice Ruby had just made. It sent a fresh heat through the younger girl’s cheeks which kind of made everything worth it. She had a bad feeling she was going to be blushing a lot tonight. 

 

Okay, so  _ maybe _ Ruby had a teeny tiny eensy weensy little crush on her older sister’s best friend and maybe it was a teeny tiny eensy weensy part of what made her agree to the sleepover, but it wasn’t like she was really expecting anything to happen. She just liked spending time with the other girl, that was all. 

 

Mari let out a satisfied hum once she’d finished pouring the tea. She slid one cup over to Ruby, still wearing that knowing smile that was making the younger girl squirm, and plopped down into her own seat. 

 

“This tea smells so sweet! Though don’t worry Ruby-chan, it’s nowhere near as sweet as you are.” She took a sip of the tea, then continued conversationally as if she hadn’t just utterly destroyed Ruby. “Where did you find it?” 

 

“I- um- I found it at this fancy shop when I was out shopping with Hanamura-chan and Yoshiko-chan.” She fidgeted a little, glancing around the room to keep herself from staring at Mari. 

 

“Oooh! I think I know the one you’re talking about, I knew the packaging looked familiar!” She nodded and took a sip of her tea, making a little sound of approval as she drank. 

 

Ruby realized belatedly that she still hadn’t tried hers, which might have made Mari think she didn’t want it, or even worse, that she didn’t think she could make good tea. Mortified, she blew a few puffs of air into her cup and quickly brought it to her lips. It was hot — she’d never understood how Dia and Mari could drink tea so hot and still enjoy it — but delicious. The strawberries Mari had added really brought out the flavor, complimenting the drink perfectly.

 

“Do you like it?” Mari asked. Ruby lowered her cup, realizing the other girl had been watching her enjoy it, and hastily nodded. 

 

“Yes! Definitely! It’s so good, Mari-chan, I don’t know where you learned to make tea like this.” 

 

Mari shook her head. “No no no! You just picked out such a delicious tea. But enough about that,  **yes** ? What were you out shopping for?”

 

“New pajamas,” she responded, blushing a little.  _ Again _ . “The ones I wear at home are really old, and since we were going to have this slumber party, I wanted to get new ones.” Yoshiko had said something about ‘seducing the dark demoness’ and Ruby wasn’t sure about that, but Hanamura told her the pair she’d picked was really cute, so she bought them anyway. 

 

As soon as Mari heard that, her entire face seemed to light up, which was… really pretty. “Can I see them?”

 

“R-right now?”

 

“ **Absolutely** ! It’s a slumber party, after all, there’s no reason not to get into our PJs right away!” And, without any further ado, Mari sprung up from her seat and flounced (Ruby had never thought she’d see a motion that could actually be described as flouncing, but Mari had a habit of defying expectations) over to her closet. She flung it open to reveal racks and racks of colorful clothing, so much that Ruby would have no idea how to keep track of it all, but Mari seemed to have no trouble finding and pulling a pastel nightdress out of the mess. 

 

She turned back to Ruby with that knowing smile on her face again. “Ruby-chan, do you want to get changed too? Or maybe you’d prefer to just stay and watch?” 

 

Ruby nearly jumped out of her skin at the implication, scrambling up out of her seat — nearly spilling the last remnants of her tea — and over to the bed to grab her bag. As undignified as her mad dash was, maybe, just maybe, it had saved her the extra embarrassment of Mari seeing how red her face had gotten. 

 

“Sorry Mari-chan, I’ll go change in the bathroom!” she blurted, then shot back out the door. Mari let her go without comment, which was good, because if she’d teased Ruby again so soon then she probably would have had a hernia. 

 

By the time Ruby reentered Mari’s bedroom she was dressed in loose shorts and a purple and white striped shirt and had mustered a powerful determination not to let herself get too flustered. 

 

Mari was sitting on her bed in the nightdress she had grabbed earlier, her hair down in two loose braids. As Ruby entered, she looked over and smiled, and oh no there went all Ruby’s resolutions she was just so pretty how was one person that-

 

“Ruby-chan, you okay? You’re looking a little flushed,” Mari said with the tone of someone trying a little too hard to sound innocent. 

 

“Yep! Fine!” 

 

She stood awkwardly by the door for another couple seconds until she realized Mari probably expected her to come sit on the bed with her. 

 

Mari, seeming to take pity on her, asked “Ruby-chan, do you want me to paint your nails for you?” 

 

“Oh! Sure!”

 

“My nail polish is on the dresser over there,” she gestured vaguely towards a huge vanity covered in various beauty supplies. “Pick out whatever color you want,  **okay honey** ?”

 

Ruby nodded and walked over, taking a few seconds to look over the variety of colors. Eventually, she settled on a light purple, carrying it back to the bed. 

 

“Is it really okay to do this on your bed?” she asked. One time she’d accidentally spilled nail polish on the couch and Dia had gotten really mad, but a bed seemed even worse. 

 

“Fufufu, don’t worry about that! Mari Ohara never spills a drop!” She made an exaggerated thumbs up motion and grinned, making Ruby giggle a little. “Ooooo,  **nice** choice!” she said as she took the nail polish from Ruby’s. She extended her hand and bowed her head, like a knight helping a princess down from her horse. “Your hand, m’lady.”

 

Ruby laughed again and stuck out her right hand, only flinching a little when her skin met Mari’s. The other girl’s hands were so much bigger than hers, and her skin was so soft… Ruby only realized she was blushing again when she looked up to meet Mari’s little smirk. 

 

“So! Ruby-chan.” Mari finally pulled away to uncap the nail polish, though her hand was right back against Ruby’s as she started to paint away at her index finger. “Have you ever been to a slumber party before?” 

 

Ruby shook her head, careful not to jostle her hand. “No. Well, not outside of that one time with everyone in Aquors. Oh! Though sometimes onee-chan used to sleep in my room whenever we’d stay up really late talking.” She realized a nostalgic smile had slipped onto her face as she spoke, and it turned a bit sheepish as she looked up and met Mari’s excited gaze. 

 

“That’s so cute!! You know, Dia was always the one telling Kanan and me to stop yapping when we’d have sleepovers, she must have liked talking to you soooooo much to stay awake! What did you two talk about?”

 

Ruby’s smile grew a little bigger at that, and she giggled quietly. “Well, it was never  _ that _ late, I got sleepy really early back then. But we’d talk about all kinds of stuff! We’d talk about idols a bunch obviously, but sometimes it was other stuff too. Onee-chan talked about you and Kanan-chan a lot.” 

 

“What did you talk about, Ruby-chan?” 

 

“Oh, I um…” Ruby shifted, looked away. “Well, I was so shy back then that I didn’t really have very many friends. Or any, really.” She laughed, but it wasn’t quite as light as her previous giggles. “So school was kind of hard for me, and I was scared of so many things, but talking to Dia about it always helped, and whenever I was really upset she’d let me rest my head in her lap and pet my hair, and then the whole world would feel alright again.” 

 

Looking back at Mari for the first time, Ruby startled when she saw tears brimming in the corner of the older girl’s eyes.

 

“I-I’m sorry! Did I ruin the mood?”

 

“No!!” Mari nearly shouted, and, continuing her streak of doing the very last thing Ruby was expecting, lunged forward and wrapped her free arm around her. She was warm and smelled really flowery and Ruby could feel her breath against her neck and oh no oh no oh no gay thoughts.

 

Mari pulled back, leaving Ruby’s skin feeling chilled in her absence, and stared intently into her eyes. The tears hadn’t fallen, but they were still there, the older girl clearly worked up. 

 

“You’re never going to be alone again,  **okay** ?” Mari said firmly. 

 

Ruby blushed, then bit her lip, forcing down a surge of emotion in her chest. But somehow, a big smile still rose naturally to her face, as watery as it might have been.  

 

“ **Okay** ,” she responded in English. Then, a second later, “Oh, Mari-chan! My nails!”

 

Mari glanced down at Ruby’s hand, unconcerned. It had been flung a bit out to the side by the impromptu hug, but none of the polish looked like it was smeared. 

 

“Mmm, no worries!” Mari said, grabbing it again and giving it a clear once over. “What did I say? Mari Ohara never spills a drop!” 

 

Ruby laughed softly again, though it was still a little shaky. It hadn’t taken Mari long to bounce back to her usual self, but rather than whiplash, Ruby was feeling almost comforted. Which was weird! But, then again, this whole night had been weird, so she might as well just start going with it. 

 

Actually, it seemed like Mari was almost done with her right hand, just a few strokes left on her thumb. That was fast! And impressively well done. It didn’t seem like she’d gotten  _ any _ polish on the skin around Ruby’s nails. 

 

“You like?” Mari asked, noticing Ruby looking. 

 

“Yeah! You’re really good at this Mari-chan.”

 

“Oho, you’re a cutie  _ and _ a charmer! How will a poor maiden like me ever control myself around you?” 

 

“Mari-chan! Quit it!” Ruby’s heart still just about tripled its pace when she heard that, but this time she was able to laugh too.

 

Mari responded with a giggle of her own and got back to work on Ruby’s nails, finishing her right hand within just a few more seconds. She examined it one more time before setting it gently on the bed, careful to keep the fingers splayed. The soft pressure of her fingers disappeared for a moment, then returned to Ruby’s other hand. 

 

Mari didn’t try to continue the conversation as she worked, concentrating solely on what was seeming more and more like her work of art. Ruby didn’t mind. There was something enrapturing about watching the normally unrestrained girl so focused, almost like seeing a tiger lay its head in its trainer’s lap. Though if Mari ever put her head in Ruby’s lap she was pretty sure she’d die right there on the spot. 

 

“Aaaand done!” Mari said, yanking Ruby back into the present. She looked down and, indeed, all the nails on her left hand had been painted just as precisely as those on the right. Pulling her hand back, she looked over it and then smiled up at the other girl. 

 

“Thank you Mari-chan, they look amazing!” 

 

Mari grinned back at her. “ **Thank you very much** ! You have such cute hands Ruby-chan, it was tons of fun to do!” 

 

Ruby had never thought someone telling her she had cute hands would short circuit her brain, and yet here she was. While she slowly opened and closed her mouth like a fish, Mari continued. 

 

“But now we need something to do while your nails dry. Hmm, pillow fight is not allowed then, how abooooout… a movie!” She clapped her hands. “Ruby-chan, yes, let’s watch a movie! What kind do you like?”

 

Before Ruby could answer, Mari was off the bed and on the other side of the room, standing in front of a large bookshelf that looked like it could hold every piece of media released by Japan in the last 10 years (and probably did). 

 

“Umm, I like romance, fantasy, serial killer documentaries, comedy... Oh! And things with cute animals.” 

 

Mari froze in place, turning back to her with a frown. “What was that third one?”

 

“Comedy?”

 

She thought about it for a second, shrugged, then turned back to her bookshelf. “Then how would you, Ruby Kurosawa, like to watch the best, greatest, most  **awesome** rom-com fantasy that’s ever been made?”

 

“That sounds really great!” Ruby replied excitedly, getting halfway to bunching her fists in front of her chest before she remembered her nails. “What’s the movie?”

 

Mari pulled a DVD case out of the shelf and walked over to where she had a flat screen TV mounted on her wall, which was just objectively super cool. “It’s an American movie about true love and pirates and sword fighting and romance and adventure! But don’t worry, this copy has the Japanese dubbed over it because your sister is a big weeny about subtitles.” She pushed the DVD into the player as she finished talking and hopped back onto the bed next to Ruby, making the mattress bounce alarmingly. Ruby narrowly stopped herself from bracing a hand against Mari’s comforter and ruining all her hard work, though the other girl seemed entirely unconcerned. 

 

Mari took a remote from her nightstand and pressed a few buttons, making the title screen of the movie pop up on the television. The title was in English, so Ruby couldn’t read it, but Mari told her it said ‘The Princess Bride’, which sounded pretty cool. 

 

A few more button presses later and the opening scene was playing, a boy and his grandpa from what Ruby could tell. Mari reached back and rearranged her pillows so the two of them could lean against them comfortably, letting Ruby shuffle into position next to her. They were close enough that their shoulders brushed. If she wanted to, Ruby had plenty of space to scooch away. She didn’t move. 

 

Mari was the type of person to talk a lot during movies, arguing with the characters, gasping whenever something surprising happened (though Ruby was at least 90% sure the other girl had seen the movie enough times to know all the lines by heart) and spurting random behind the scenes facts. Ruby didn’t mind, though she did find herself paying more attention to Mari than to the movie. She couldn’t help it! There was something about the other girl when she got excited that was just… enchanting. 

 

Once the movie passed its halfway point, Mari started to wind down, her interruptions getting less and less frequent as she got more and more tired. At some point, she’d slipped an arm around Ruby’s waist, pulling the younger girl right up against her side which, once her heart palpitations calmed down, was really nice. 

 

Mari was warm and soft and it was late. Before long, Ruby slipped into a state halfway between sleep and consciousness. Her fuzzy mind registered the feeling of Mari’s hand rubbing slowly back and forth over her back and she smiled, nuzzling her face against the other girl’s sleeve. She heard a chuckle, then the TV clicked off, the light next to the bed darkening a second later. 

 

Ruby raised her head and blinked slowly, making Mari laugh again softly. 

 

“I think it’s sleepytime for you now, bella.”

 

“No!” Ruby responded automatically. “I… I wanna stay up and talk with you more, Mari-chan.” 

 

“You’re such a sweetie pie!” Mari cooed. “But don’t worry honey, I’m sure if we go to sleep holding hands, we’ll see each other in our dreams.” As she spoke she lowered herself down onto the bed, pulling Ruby with her until both of their heads were resting on the pillows, facing each other. Ruby was too sleepy to complain, especially as she felt Mari’s fingers entwine with her’s under the blanket. 

 

“But I wanna see you now,” Ruby grumbled, pouting slightly. 

 

Mari just laughed again, leaning in a little closer and sending Ruby into a spiral of unrestrained gay thoughts. “You can see me allllll day tomorrow.” She pulled a hand out from under the blankets and rested it against Ruby’s cheek affectionately, making the younger girl’s breath come even faster. If she just leaned in a little closer than they’d be- they’d be- Even half asleep, Ruby couldn’t think the word ‘kissing’ in relation to Mari without sending herself into a tizzy. She dared to meet the other girl’s gaze and found it strangely intense. She didn’t have even an ounce of proof, but suddenly, Ruby had a feeling that Mari was thinking the same thing she was. 

 

Then, something in Mari’s eyes broke, and she quickly looked away, but not quite quick enough to keep Ruby from seeing the defeat in her eyes. “Well, goodnight then-”

 

She was cut off by Ruby’s lips against hers, scared, desperate, demanding. Maybe she was wrong and she’d misread the whole situation, but maybe she wasn’t! Maybe this was her chance and maybe she wasn’t gonna give that up. 

 

Mari was frozen for a second, too surprised to move, before she softened all at once, her lips stretching into a wide smile under Ruby’s. A second later and the hand was back on her cheek. Mari leaned into the chaste kiss, closing her eyes and enjoying the soft tickle of air from Ruby’s nose against her cheek. Ruby was, for once, too absorbed to be nervous. It was like every nerve in her body had rushed to her lips, letting her feel every tiny movement Mari made. 

 

It was magical. She felt like a princess.

 

It was Mari who eventually pulled back, still wearing her smile. Ruby almost chased after her, but caught herself, blushing a bright red as all her sense came back to her. 

 

“I-I’m sorry for doing that out of the blue like that it’s just that I really really like you and I’m sorry oh gosh I’ve ruined everything haven’t I?”

 

Mari shook her head. “No bella, you were very brave. And! Lucky you! I really really like you too. But let’s talk about that in the morning,  **yes** ?”

 

It took ‘No bella’ to stop Ruby’s heart, and then ‘I really really like you too’ to restart it. She let out a long, shuddering breath as a big smile bloomed on her face. Mari liked her!  _ Mari liked her _ ! Her chest had never felt so hot, heck, her whole body had never felt so hot. It was a weird, happy heat though, full of promise and excitement and hope. When she looked back at Mari, she was the one with tears brimming in the corners of her eyes.

 

“A-alright. But, will you kiss me again?” she asked tentatively. 

 

Mari’s smile only widened, and she wordlessly leaned down to give Ruby another soft kiss. “If you go to sleep now, I’ll give you another one in the morning.” 

 

Ruby nodded seriously and closed her eyes, ignoring the happy wetness clinging to their corners, determined to get to sleep quickly so morning would come as fast as possible. Mari’s hand dropped from her cheek and she slid both arms around Ruby, pulling her in closer so the younger girl’s head rested against her chest. 

 

“Night night Mari.”

 

“Night night love.”


End file.
